Elections to the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

for 2022 were conducted according to the rules most recently amended in 2016. As in the past, the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines, and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908 and is known fo ...

(BBWAA) voted by mail to select from a ballot of recently retired players, with results announced on January 25.

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 ...

, in his first year of eligibility, was the only player elected from the BBWAA ballot. Meetings of the Early Baseball Era Committee and Golden Days Era Committee—two of a group of four bodies generally referred to as the

Veterans Committee The Veterans Committee is the popular name of various committees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that elect participants other than recently retired players. Originally, it referenced the National Baseball Hall of Fame Committee ...

—who consider players from the 1871–1949 and 1950–1969 eras, respectively, took place in December 2021, having been postponed from December 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Early Baseball Era Committee elected

Buck O'Neil John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was an American first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout and became the fir ...

and

Bud Fowler Bud Fowler (March 16, 1858 – February 26, 1913), born "John W. Jackson", was an American baseball player, manager, and club organizer. He is the earliest known African-American player in organized professional baseball. He was elected to the ...

, while the Golden Days Era Committee elected

Minnie Miñoso Saturnino Orestes "Minnie" Armas Arrieta Miñoso (, ; November 29, 1924 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "the Cuban Comet", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Negro leagues in 1946 and became an All-Sta ...

Gil Hodges Gilbert Raymond Hodges (born Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Broo ...

Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938), nicknamed "Kitty", is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A left-handed pitcher, he played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators / Minnes ...

, and

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva Lopez (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the M ...

. The inductees and other honorees composing the class of 2022 were honored in ceremonies in

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and the county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in ...

, on July 24, 2022.

BBWAA ballot

The list of players appearing on the BBWAA ballot was announced on November 22, 2021. There were 17 players carried over from the prior year's ballot, who garnered at least 5% of the vote in 2021 balloting and were still eligible for election, along with 13 players selected to appear on this ballot in their first year of eligibility, whose final major league appearance was in 2016. A total of 2801 votes were cast for individual players, an average of 7.11 votes per ballot. David2007

This was the final BBWAA ballot for

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and also played ...

Curt Schilling Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball right handed pitcher and commentator for media outlet BlazeTV. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series appearance in 1993 World Seri ...

, and

Sammy Sosa Samuel Peralta Sosa (; born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and ...

. Schilling joined

Jim Bunning James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician from Kentucky who served in both chambers of the United States Congress, a member of the United States House of Representati ...

in becoming the second player ever to run out of eligibility after having twice received 70% of the vote, but falling short of the necessary 75%. Players who met first-year eligibility requirements but were ''not'' selected by the screening committee for inclusion on the ballot included:

Michael Bourn Michael Ray Bourn (born December 27, 1982) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Baltimore Orioles ...

, Billy Butler,

Marlon Byrd Marlon Jerrard Byrd (born August 30, 1977) is an Americans, American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, ...

Chris Capuano Christopher Frank Capuano (born August 19, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher whose professional playing career spanned from 2000 through 2016. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwauk ...

, Coco Crisp,

Gavin Floyd Gavin Christopher Floyd (born January 27, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue ...

Jeff Francoeur Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals ...

, Roberto Hernández,

Omar Infante Omar Rafael Infante (born December 26, 1981) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and ...

, Kelly Johnson,

Colby Lewis Colby Preston Lewis (born August 2, 1979), popularly nicknamed "Cobra", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers and in Nippon Pro ...

Kyle Lohse Kyle Matthew Lohse (; born October 4, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, a ...

, Javier López,

Ángel Pagán Ángel Manuel Pagán (born July 2, 1981) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants. Pagán's original contract in Major League Base ...

Brayan Peña Brayan Eduardo Peña (born January 7, 1982) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. He ...

Joel Peralta Joel Peralta Gutiérrez (; ; born March 23, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Ta ...

, David Ross, Brendan Ryan, Matt Thornton,

Juan Uribe Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena (born March 22, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Brav ...

Ryan Vogelsong Ryan Andrew Vogelsong (born July 22, 1977), nicknamed "Vogey", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates and in Nippon Professional Baseball ( ...

, and Jerome Williams.

Early Baseball Era Committee

The Early Baseball Era Committee met to consider players from the pre-1950 era. The committee was established in July 2016; this was its first meeting to consider candidates for election to the Hall. Within the Early Baseball Era Committee, the Hall of Fame announced a Special Early Baseball Overview Committee to form a ballot of 10

Negro League The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

players for consideration; the special committee was led by former commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the commissioner emeritus of baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth commissioner of baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

in a non-voting role. The ballot was announced on November 5, and the voting was held on December 5. All 10 candidates were deceased.Simon, Andrew
"HOF reveals Early Baseball, Golden Days ballots"
mlb.com. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021."Gil Hodges, Roger Maris, Minnie Miñoso among 10 on Hall of Fame committee ballot"
espn.com. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021. The committee consisted of the following individuals:"Fowler, Hodges, Kaat, Miñoso, Oliva, O'Neil Elected to Hall of Fame"
baseballhall.org. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.Castrovince, Anthony
"Minnie, Gil, Buck among 6 elected to Hall"
mlb.com. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021. * Hall of Famers:

Bert Blyleven Rik Aalbert Blyleven (born Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher and color commentator. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins, and f ...

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins Order of Canada, CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and Coach (baseball), coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, C ...

John Schuerholz John Boland Schuerholz Jr. (; born October 1, 1940) is an American baseball front office executive. He was the general manager of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves from 1990 to 2007, and then served as the Braves president for a decade from ...

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

* Executives:

William DeWitt Jr. William Orville DeWitt Jr. (born August 31, 1941) is an Americans, American businessman who is currently the principal owner, Partner (business rank), managing partner and chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball Professional ...

Ken Kendrick Earl Gentry "Ken" Kendrick Jr. (born September 2, 1943) is an American billionaire businessman who is the principal owner and managing general partner of the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks. He became part- owner with the team's inception i ...

Tony Reagins Tony Demetrius Reagins (born March 11, 1967) is an American former executive in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Reagins served as the general manager of the Angels from 2007 until his 2011 resignation. The fourth Afr ...

* Media and historians: Gary Ashwill, Adrian Burgos Jr., Leslie Heaphy, Jim Henneman, Justice B. Hill, Steve Hirdt,

Rick Hummel Richard Lowell Hummel (February 25, 1946 – May 20, 2023) was an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''. Hummel was honored in 2007 with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writin ...

John Thorn John Abraham Thorn (born April 17, 1947) is a German-born American sports historian, author, and publisher. Since 2011, he has served as the Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball. Early life Thorn was born in Stuttgart, Germany ...

* Non-voting committee co-chairs: Jane Forbes Clark,

Golden Days Era Committee

The Golden Days Era Committee met to consider players from the 1950–1969 era. The committee was established in July 2016; this was its first meeting to consider candidates for election to the Hall. The ballot was announced on November 5, and the voting was held on December 5. Of the 10 candidates, only

, and

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1959 to 1972, most prominently as an integral member of the Los Ange ...

were still alive. The committee consisted of the following individuals: * Hall of Famers:

Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman, first baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minneso ...

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time Al ...

* Executives:

Al Avila Al Avila (born August 2, 1958) is a Cuban-American baseball executive. He was the executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Avila was born in Cuba. His f ...

Kim Ng Kimberly J. Ng (; born November 17, 1968) is an American executive best known for her work on Major League Baseball. She is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins. She was the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in the Bi ...

* Media and historians: Adrian Burgos Jr., Steve Hirdt,

Jaime Jarrín Jaime Jarrín (; born December 10, 1935) is an Ecuadorian-born American sportscaster known as the Spanish-language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He began broadcasting for the Dodgers in 1959 and was the 1998 recipient of the Ford C. Frick A ...

, Jack O'Connell * Non-voting committee chair: Jane Forbes Clark

Ford C. Frick Award

According to the rules last amended in 2016, nominees in the

Ford C. Frick Award The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former commissioner of baseball. Prior to his career as an exe ...

balloting were considered from the Broadcasting Beginnings category—"early team voices and pioneers of baseball broadcasting"—one of three categories considered on a rotating basis. The announced finalists, all of whom were deceased at the time nominations were announced, were: * Pat Flanagan (1893–1963), Chicago Cubs broadcaster *

Jack Graney John Gladstone Graney (June 10, 1886 – April 20, 1978) was a Canadian professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for 14 seasons, all with the Cleveland Indians franchise. In his 1402-game career, Graney batted .250 ( ...

(1886–1978), Cleveland Indians broadcaster; MLB player 1908, 1910–1922 *

Waite Hoyt Waite Charles Hoyt (September 9, 1899 – August 25, 1984) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for seven different teams during 1918–1938. He was one of the dominant pitchers of the 19 ...

(1899–1984), Cincinnati Reds broadcaster; MLB player 1918–1938; inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1969 *

France Laux James Francis "France" Laux Jr. (December 3, 1897 – November 16, 1978) was an American sportscaster, notable as the first full-time radio voice of Major League Baseball in St. Louis. Biography Early life Laux was born in Guthrie, Oklaho ...

(1897–1978), St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns broadcaster *

Rosey Rowswell Albert Kennedy "Rosey" Rowswell (February 1, 1884 – February 6, 1955) was an American radio sportscaster, best known for being the first full-time play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, for whom he worke ...

(1884–1955), Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster * Hal Totten (1901–1985), Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox broadcaster *

Ty Tyson Edwin Lloyd "Ty" Tyson (May 11, 1888 – December 12, 1968) was an American sports broadcaster and radio play-by-play announcer. Early life Tyson was born in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania and he attended Penn State University. As a young man, h ...

(1888–1968), Detroit Tigers broadcaster * Bert Wilson (1911–1955), Chicago Cubs broadcaster On December 8, 2021, the Hall of Fame announced that Jack Graney won the Frick Award. The award was officially presented on July 23, 2022, in a ceremony in Cooperstown.

BBWAA Career Excellence Award

The 2022

BBWAA Career Excellence Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...

will also be officially presented on July 23 in Cooperstown, honoring a baseball writer "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The award was formerly named for

J. G. Taylor Spink John George Taylor Spink (November 6, 1888 – December 7, 1962) was the publisher of ''The Sporting News'' from 1914 until his death in 1962. He inherited the weekly American baseball newspaper from his father Charles Spink, younger brother of it ...

, longtime publisher of ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. On December 7, 2021,

Tim Kurkjian Tim Kurkjian (; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball (MLB) analyst on ESPN's '' Baseball Tonight'' and '' SportsCenter''. He is also a contributor to ''ESPN The Magazine'' and '' ESPN.com''. On December 7, 2021, Kurkjian was name ...

, an

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

analyst who had a long career as a writer for ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', was named as the recipient. Allan Simpson, founder of ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'', and sportswriter Marty Noble were the other finalists.

References

External links

Early Baseball Era announcement
(video) at MLB.com
Golden Era ballot announcement
(video) at MLB.com
Kurkjian earns BBWAA award
(video) at MLB.com {{2022 Baseball HOF Hall of Fame balloting Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Negro league baseball